Another loss

Well, the Braves lose again. Francoeur goes 1 for 7, Jeff Bennett sucks, and the Braves used nine pitchers, only maybe two deserve to be in the majors. Seriously, how does this team ever win?

This game also included the the latest installment of "Martin Prado: Major League First Baseman." Even if you are a bit like me and do not put too much value in positional value, a 1B has to hit for more power than Prado, right?

To prove how these games are very much like exhibitions, only two players played the entire game (Escobar and the aforementioned French Prince). Chipper went 3 for 6 to push his AVG to .358. That is still a point behind Albert Pujols, who went 1 for 4, but his hit easily outdistanced any of Chipper's as it was a two-run shot, part of a 3-1 win in support of Adam Wainwright.

Hey, it's football season and in a rarity, all of my football teams won this weekend. JMU crushed North Carolina Central 53-7 (though NC Central is barely a DI-AA team), Notre Dame avoided an upset by beating San Diego State, and the Cowboys rolled over the Browns. Good weekend there.

Oh, yeah, baseball blog. Braves remain in Atlanta for a three-game set with the Rockies before heading to Shea next weekend. Oddly, Fox's signature game next Saturday is the Braves/Mets. Maybe that will change. Maybe it should change.

18 games left. Six game lead over the Nats to stay out of last place.

Can the Braves do it?

w00t, keeping Washington in last place!

Back-to-back wins against the oddly worse Washington Nationals have the Braves feeling good about life. The guys feel like they can go home and diddle the wife. The coaches feel like their hard work is paying off. And the fans don't really have anyone to bitch about. And the Braves still have a hope to finish above .500. Yes, they cannot lose another game, but stranger things have happened?

Oh, they haven't? Well then.

KJ's been hitting the ball a bit. In his last 19 games, KJ is hitting .338/.397/.507. Now, it's certainly nothing too special, but hopefully a good sign. I'm such a KJ apologist, I know. But hey, he's the only one who I really feel is hitting significantly under his ability.

And yes, that includes Jeff Francoeur, who some guy named Marco Estrada hit yesterday. Methinks Estrada is actually a Braves fan. Anyway, the French prince is day-to-day.

Brandon Jones continues to get regular at-bats and is succeeding at them. I still am not ready to write him off as a potential .900 OPS guy from the outfield, though he was pretty bad at Richmond this year. I blame the confusing Richmond traffic. Lillipad, you're excused, too.

J-And, who is a great navigator, is also hitting in Atlanta. .305/.369/.441 with five steals. I don't think the power will be sustained, but if he keeps that SLG above .400 and that OBP in reasonably effective leadoff status, he is already much more valuable than Gregor Blanco, who would slide into a solid fourth outfielder.

The outfield for next year is problematic for a few reasons. One, I doubt they will deal Francoeur, so let's pencil him in right. Let's say J-And has a foot in the door in center. You need a bigger bat in left. Your infield, for argument's sakes, is pretty well packed. Even if you deal KJ, which has been discussed, are you going to find a bigger bat for the position? Doubtful. This team needs power, ESPECIALLY if they deal KJ, who after McCann, Chipper, Krotchy, and Francoeur, is the only player with potential power. I like Brandon Jones, but you can't rely on that. I think the Braves need a power bat in left next season.

The pitching...remains horrible and the Braves are getting a collection of weak pitchers to finish the season. I'd write more...but Notre Dame's on! Go Irish!

Yikes

I'm being no-hit by Barry Zito in Out of the Park, but even that's not as bad as the Braves have been recently. 18-3 loss yesterday which would have amusing if the Rams had been beating the Falcons by that score. Instead, it was the Cardinals beating the Braves. I think LaRussa shouldn't have settled for so many field goals, but that's why I'm not a coach.

Holy shinazzle (I am a German thug), Jeff Francoeur with the infield single to break up the no-no.

Back to real baseball, the Braves are now 6 and 15 in August. In 21 games, they have scored 86 runs, which isn't too terrible I guess. They have allowed 127. Since June 1st, the Braves are a horrible 27-46. They are 17 games under .500. They have lost six straight and 11 of 12.

So, basically, things are bad, mmmmk?

This team is so bad on so many levels. Martin Prado, all of 17 professional homeruns since singing as an undrafted free agent, has been getting starts at first. Omar Infante, all of 35 major league homeruns since 2002, has been the fifth placed hitter. Even Chipper Jones has struggled in August, hitting .289 with just one homerun.

And God help me, do I even want to mention the pitching? The starting rotation's ERA in the second half...5.62. The bullpen has been even worse...7.36.

The 80's Braves teams are calling and saying "damn man, that's rough."

The 119 loss Tigers team a few years ago just sent a txt, "keep yo head up."

Tanner of the Bad News Bears just yelled, "God damn, man, kick some fucking ass."

The way the team is playing, they wouldn't even beat the Hawaii Little League team.

Is it over yet?

Glavine's Last Stand

Well, it looks like the sun has set on the career of Tom Glavine. It's his last call. One last dying breath.

Perhaps I've cliche'd myself up too much. Anywho, according to the World Wide Leader in Poorly Covered Sports...

Braves pitcher Tom Glavine is out for the season, and his illustrious career could be over if he needs major surgery on his injured left elbow.

The 42-year-old Glavine still hopes to return next year -- unless he needs elbow ligament replacement surgery.

According to another link I read, Glavine would be "shocked" if there wasn't anything wrong with his elbow. So chances are heavy that Glavine has hit the end of the road. He's a sure Hall of Famer, a 300 game winner, a two time Cy Young winner, a World Series MVP, and a hell of a slapshot.

So...big thumbs up on that signing!

Matt Effin DeSalvo?

The Braves are so bad off that recently activated Tom Glavine hits the DL a-GIN and we call up Matt DeSalvo. He's not even a AAAA pitcher having a good year. I know win-loss records aren't that helpful, but something tells me that no amount of sabermetrics will put a positive spin on a 2-11 record at AAA.

This just in...Richmond is horrible.

Where's Brad Woodall when you need him?

Um, yeah

So my last post talked about renewed faith. Well, that went away with Francoeur's promotion after, oh, three hours. Maybe it was five hours, but I know the demotion did not last nearly long enough. Since then, the Braves have officially packed it in, trading Teix to the Angels for Casey Krotchman (thanks Francoeur) and some minor league pitcher. I am not going to delve into whether the Braves got enough. Either way, it's done and gone.

Also gone is Tim Hudson. Tommy John. Oh happy day...

Also gone, but with great sadness, Skip Carey. While Skip was never my favorite announcer, he was a fun one to listen to. You can find several links to quotes, tributes, etc. at this chopnation link. By the way, we have closed off new members from easily coming on board due to spam. If you want to join chopnation, register and then e-mail me. You'll be in shortly.

What else...

Oh, Jeff Francoeur sucks. Like seriously. Like, even AJC is saying it. I mean, when Bobby finally breaks down and says..."ya know, I'd rather start an outfield of Infante, Kotsay, and Blanco than have you start Francoeur" your career took a wrong turn at Albuquerque.

Charlie Morton has had a few good starts. Still not nearly convinced he's much of anything.

Tom Glavine's returning Wednesday. I am really hoping he has a nice few starts and the Braves can pull a waiver deal.

What to look forward the rest of the way...see if KJ can finally turn the corner this season. He's been flirting with really good and really average numbers...how great will McCann's season rank in Braves history among catchers?...can Chipper stay healthy and hit well enough to take home a batting title?...can Jurrjens finish strong and make it really hard for the baseball writers to ignore what he has done this year?...what roles will Brandon Jones, Brent Lillibridge, and Jo-Jo Reyes play in September?

I am actually interested in what happens the rest of the way. After all, according to the Forbes, I am quite loyal to the Braves.

Oh, the times are a'changing

I don't post for over a month and suddenly, the Braves grow some testicles? Who knew?

Well, if you have been living under a rock the past few days, the Braves decided yesterday to option struggling right-fielder Jeff Francoeur to Mississippi and purchased the contract of little-known Jason Perry from Richmond. The team then went out and finally won, ending a streak of five straight loses. Granted, it was Houston the Braves defeated and the ancient Brian Mohler, but a win is a win, right?

Sending Francoeur down was definitely a changing of the guard. A very un-Schuerholz type move, especially in recent years. The Braves often refused to make tough decisions with their own players, including who to give up on, who to demote, and who to eliminate. Well, the latter would be breaking the law, but still, it's a tough decision.

But this decision has in a way renewed my faith in my team. That faith has, I admit, been wavering as I witnessed their consistent inability to win games and seem to give a damn while they did. Chipper Jones was battling for icon status and the team just never seemed to care to get better around him.

Francoeur's decision can go one of three ways.

The first is the one I most doubt. Francoeur not getting better as a byproduct of this decision. Francoeur has been hyped since day one as the Natural, the Franchise, the Golden Boy, and whatever bullshit label in the book. Now, he's simply Mississippi's starting right fielder. For the first time in a few years, he has to take a step back personally and professionally. Second, he's been pretty abysmal so he has to get better. At the time of his demotion, he was hitting .234/.287/.374. To put that number into context, in 1991, Rafael Belliard hit 249/.296/.286. Essentially, Francoeur was a roided up Rafael Belliard. Francoeur is not going to be a great player, but he is better than that.

Another way the demotion could go is to jumpstart the team. Sometimes, just showing you have the balls to make a tough decision lights a fire under a team. I doubt that any fire lit after the demotion will continue to burn beyond a few games, but it might be enough to get the team to springboard into the second half.

A third way this demotion could impact the team is that at least for the Braves starting right fielder, it might help him finally make long-term adjustments. Since his promotion in July of 2005, Francoeur has seemed to always take a step forward and then another back. He hit dominated after his promotion in 2005, but struggled in September. He hit 29 homers in 2006, but posted a .293 OBP. He came close to doubling his walk total in 2007, but his power slumped to 19 homers. This year, he talked a big game about 30 homers and 20 steals. He was on pace for 15 homers and had yet to steal a base successfully. Francoeur's fall from grace is complete. He has been humbled. Now he has to get better because the Braves have shown baseball that they think he's flawed, too.

I think he will get better, but again, I don't think he is much better than league average. But right now, with this pisspoor outfield the Braves are putting out, league average would be a vast improvement.